George M. Todd

George M. Todd (September 17, 1839 – October 21, 1864) was a Canadian American Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War who served under William C. Quantrill. A participant in numerous raids, including the Lawrence Massacre in 1863, he was ultimately killed at the Battle of Little Blue River in 1864.

Early life George was the 5th of seven children, four of whom died in childhood. The family moved from Montréal to Chateaugay, New York, around 1849 or 1850. The next census where their names appear are in the 1860 Kansas City census, where he is listed as residing with his parents, George & Margerit, and his younger sister, also Margerit. His older brother Tom was, like their father, a stonemason. During the construction of a sewer, Tom was struck and killed by a stone which rolled down the embankment to the bottom of the ravine.

Contemporaneous reports noted George as being "of a sullen, morose disposition, having little to say to anyone, and with no close associates, but without vicious habits".

On August 21, 1863, Todd participated in Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, in which 150 men and boys were massacred

Todd and his men did not participate in the Centralia Massacre, on September 27, 1864. Primarily known for the massacre of unarmed union soldiers on a train (this was performed by William T. Anderson and not endorsed by Todd, who reprimanded Anderson for the deed), the guerrillas overran a relief force of inexperienced mounted infantry carrying single shot rifles, killing nearly all of them as well.

Todd was killed during the Battle of Little Blue River, on October 21, 1864, possibly by Lt. Col. George H. Hoyt of the Fifteenth Kansas, although an eyewitness believed that the fatal shot was probably fired by a nearby private. According to Edwards, "a Spencer rifle ball entered his neck in front, passed through and out near the spine, and paralyzed him. Dying as he fell, he was yet tenderly taken up and carried to the house of Mrs. Burns, in Independence. Articulating with great difficulty and leaving now and then almost incoherent messages to favorite comrade or friend, he lingered for two hours insensible to pain, and died at last as a Roman." Todd was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence, where his grave is a local historical attraction.

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